Track Heads To Vanderbilt, LSU For Final Meet Weekend Of Outdoor Regular Season

Friday, April 26

Nashville, TN

TBA

University of Georgia

Music City Challenge

Track Heads To Vanderbilt, LSU For Final Meet Weekend Of Outdoor Regular Season

April 25, 2024 | Track & Field

2024 Music City Challenge - Schedule 2024 LSU Invitational - Schedule 2024 Music City Challenge - Heat Sheets 2024 LSU Invitational Heat Sheets

ATHENS, Ga. --- The Georgia track and field teams are set to close the 2024 outdoor regular season this weekend, splitting up between the Music City Challenge and LSU Invitational.

The Music City Challenge is a two-day meet scheduled for Friday and Saturday at the Vanderbilt Outdoor Track Complex in Nashville, Tenn. The LSU Invitational will take place on Saturday at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. The Bulldogs are returning to LSU for the second time this season after they previously participated in the Battle on the Bayou on March 29-30.

Who's The Competition?: Georgia is one of 24 schools slated to compete at the Music City Challenge. The Bulldogs will be joined by Vanderbilt as the two representatives of the Southeastern Conference in Nashville.

The Bulldogs are one of nine schools participating in the LSU Invitational. Five teams – Georgia, Auburn, Florida, LSU, and Ole Miss – will represent the SEC while Arizona State, Florida State, Georgia Tech, and Indian Hills make up the remainder of the field.

When Do The Bulldogs Start?: Audrey Knoper will open competition for Georgia in the 3,000-meter run at 7:10 p.m. ET on Friday. On Saturday, Charlotte Augenstein, Nina Ouellette, and Simone Rojas will represent the Lady Bulldogs in the 800m at 6:40 p.m.

At the LSU Invitational, field events will begin with Stephanie Ratcliffe competing in the hammer throw at 11 a.m. ET while track events will start with the women's 4x100-meter relay at 2:15 p.m. ET.

Live Results: For results throughout the weekend from the Music City Challenge, please visit:https ://gado.gs/bse

For results throughout the weekend from the LSU Invitational, please visit: https://gado.gs/bs5

Coach Caryl's Comments: "A month and a half of outdoor meets has passed quickly and we have arrived at our regular season finale," said Georgia head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert. "The goal doesn't change from previous weeks: we will be trying to qualify as many student-athletes as possible for the NCAA East Prelims and continue to fine-tune for the postseason. However, there is a bit of urgency at this meet since this will be the last one before the Southeastern Conference Championships. We will again have some of the top competition in the country to square off against so expecting another round of great performances. GO DAWGS!"

What Bulldogs Are Competing?: The Distance Dawgs will be represented by Andrew Balogh, Logan Dingman, Conner Inman, John Jessup, Wesley John, Ryan Olree, Zachary Roe, Conner Rutherford, Zack Truitt, and Jake Westing on the men's side at the Music City Challenge. The women competing in Nashville on Friday and Saturday are Charlotte Augenstein, Sophia Baker, Bella Brick, Bella Cammarota, Lorel Golden, Ella Kepple, Audrey Knoper, Katherine Law, Gracie O'Neal, Nina Ouellette, and Simone Rojas.

A larger group of Bulldogs will compete in Baton Rouge on Saturday. The women will be represented by Leah Anderson, Aaliyah Butler, Kieley Gayle, Kimberly Harris, Sydney Harris, Kaila Jackson, Elena Kulichenko, Erin McMeniman, Kelsie Murrell-Ross, Dominique Mustin, Karsen Phillips, Zoe Pollock, Stephanie Ratcliffe, Reign Redmond, Ella Rush, Haley Tate, Mikeisha Welcome, Autumn Wilson, and Bella Witt. On the men's side, Gavin Beverage, Brody Buffington, Jan Duhovnik, Mekhi Gammons, Jehlani Gordon, Hossam Hatib, Chance Jones, Alexander Kolesnikoff, Micah Larry, Jordan McKenzie, Christopher Morales Williams, Riyon Rankin, Alon Rogow, Nikolai van Huyssteen and Zavien Wolfe are set to compete at LSU.

LAST WEEK'S FLASHBACK – Georgia Tech Invitational (April 19-20): Georgia competed in Atlanta for the second time this outdoor season last weekend, participating in the Georgia Tech Invitational. The Bulldogs tallied wins in 10 events while making two improvements to the school's all-time top-10 list at the meet. Ratcliffe's season-best hammer throw of 67.06 meters/220 feet, 0 inches highlighted Friday's action, helping the graduate student win the event, move to third in Georgia history, and improve to seventh in the NCAA this season. Kimberly Harris won Saturday's 400-meter dash with a time of 52.12, taking over the No. 5 spot in program history. Additionally Wilson took home wins in both the 100m and 200m.

Outdoor SEC Honors: Marc Minichello was named Southeastern Conference Men's Co-Field Athlete of the Week following his javelin performance at the Hurricane Collegiate Invitational on March 23. The graduate student posted a mark of 82.32m/270-1 to win the javelin throw and move into the national lead by more than 10 feet. The 2022 NCAA javelin champion is the No. 11 all-time collegiate performer and No. 2 in Georgia history in the event.

The Bulldogs added two more weekly SEC honors following the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational on April 12-13. Kulichenko was named SEC Women's Field Athlete of the Week after her win in the women's high jump invite while Rankin's runner-up performance in the men's high jump invite earned him SEC Freshman of the Week honors. Kulichenko's mark of 1.92m/6-3.50 ranks second in the NCAA this season while Rankin's top jump of 2.21m/7-3 ranks fourth nationally, including first among freshmen.

Glimpse At Where This Season Will Take The Dogs: The Bulldogs will open the outdoor postseason at the SEC Championships in Gainesville, Fla., on May 9-11. Georgia will then head to the NCAA East Prelims, which are scheduled for May 22-25 in Lexington, Ky. The 2024 NCAA Championships return to the site of this year's U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., on June 5-8. The Trials will run June 21-30 at the Hayward Field facility.

Where To Find Bulldogs News: Results and recaps from the Bulldogs' outdoor season will be found at georgiadogs.com. News and updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country teams are always located on X/Instagram at @UGATrack.